Free 5e Adventure Plus Maps in a PDF

[Jimbro]

Hey Everyone! I've just finished writing my first for-public-consumption adventure. You can pick it up in all it's 40 page glory along with maps (gridded and gridless) for virtual tables right here: http://worldbuilderblog.me/2015/06/11/free-fifth-edition-adventure-in-a-pdf/

Take a look, let me know what you think! Thanks!

 

[Wik]

Honestly, while it's GREAT to see modules popping up now, this one isn't for me. There's way too much world-specific detail in the game, and while I love mechs, my eyes glazed over the moment I saw stats for one.

Also, aren't Dracoliches IP? I thought they weren't allowed as names - you had to use something like "Undead Dragon"? I'm not sure, though.

 

[gamerprinter]

I feel the same way about too much setting information for a given adventure. Consider that I develop the Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG), and when we release full modules they are intrinsically tied to the setting (justfully so), however, for any one-shots we create, aside from being most usable in an Asian setting, none of them specifically point to Kaidan in any direct way.

We've even released a supplement Way of the Samurai (PFRPG) intended as the book on samurai of Kaidan, however, the word "Kaidan" only appears once in the first paragraph, because really the supplement is intended to be useful for anyone running a samurai or samurai social caste based PC for any Pathfinder or D&D based game - whether its for Kara-Tur, Rokugan, Minkai, or a place of your invention. Most adventures we release are as generic and setting-agnostic as possible, so that it could be usable to the largest number of potential games.

Besides if I want mechs, I run Battletech, not really wanting mechs in my D&D...

 

[Jimbro]

I think you're actually right about Dracoliches. Nice catch.

And hey, it's not for everyone, but it's free. I'm using the adventure to specifically push to my blog which is about the homebrew world I've created, so I wanted a lot of setting specific information in there. The mech has a pretty low chance of actually showing up in the adventure (as part of a random encounters table) and isn't necessary to the story, so it can easily be dropped because I know they aren't for everyone. Thank you for checking it out.

 

[jeffh]

You desperately need a gutter between columns. It's ugly and hard to read in the places where there's a longer line in the left column. If you're concerned about getting as much text onto a page as possible, the font, margins, and (especially) the indents before the numbers in numbered lists all seem bigger than they need to be.

I find the combination of ragged right and two-column very unappealing, at least as implemented here. I might mind less with reasonable gutter space, but overall two justified columns usually look cleaner.

All in all it looks very Microsoft Word-ish. If that really is what you're using, ignore one thing I said above - DON'T ever use what Word calls full justification, because Word is terrible at it. Most DTP programs, on the other hand, can be trusted to do non-hideous justification if your columns are wide enough.

 

[Jimbro]

You desperately need a gutter between columns. It's ugly and hard to read in the places where there's a longer line in the left column. If you're concerned about getting as much text onto a page as possible, the font, margins, and (especially) the indents before the numbers in numbered lists all seem bigger than they need to be.

I find the combination of ragged right and two-column very unappealing, at least as implemented here. I might mind less with reasonable gutter space, but overall two justified columns usually look cleaner.

All in all it looks very Microsoft Word-ish. If that really is what you're using, ignore one thing I said above - DON'T ever use what Word calls full justification, because Word is terrible at it. Most DTP programs, on the other hand, can be trusted to do non-hideous justification if your columns are wide enough.

I do definitely need gutter space. This is my first time laying anything out like this on my own. Thanks for this feedback! Very helpful!

 

[Farland]

I know how much work goes into creating these, so I'll say nice job and thanks.

 

[Jimbro]

I know how much work goes into creating these, so I'll say nice job and thanks.

Thank you! I'm open to hearing any feedback if you want to give it.

 

[Jimbro]

I added that gutter and made it copyright friendly. http://worldbuilderblog.me/2015/07/07/prison-for-dragons-updated-free-fifth-edition-adventure/

 

[Dragonsbane]

Looks pretty good. A ton of work for sure! I would add some parchment background, tan or whatever the PHB uses. People seem to really like it when stuff looks similar lol.

I love the campaign details. A few pages is too much? Um. Ok. When I write up adventures for myself, I have at least that much on the Adventure Background and Adventure Synopsis sections. My players love that as well.

I will use it for my next one-shot between our current campaign, I have some 13th level evil PCs and I can incorporate it into my plotline and gameworld, thanks!